The OODA Loop & You I love examples of lean thinking that come from unexpected angles. Mike Gardner at the TPM Log recently brought up one of my favorite figures from the world of folks who embody lean without knowing…
Southwest. Way Southwest. – NY Times Jeff Bailey at the New York Times wrote a great article about Southwest Airlines and their legendary approach to the key lean principle of respect for people. After talking about Southwest’s propensity for cross-dressing…
After my last few complain-ey posts, you might be surprised to see something positive…. especially about an airline. For all of my complaining about airlines, I actually have something NICE to say about American Airlines. I discovered a new feature…
Yahoo News Story By Mike R. Lopez: I saw this story about United Airlines charging customers to check a SECOND bag. Not the fifth or sixth bag, but NUMBER TWO! This reminded me of a training slide that we have…
If you’re a results thinker, you should feel reassured that 2007 had zero U.S. air travel fatalities for the first time in a long time, the continuation of an apparent downward trend. 2007 a safe year for U.S. airlines If…
Can US Airways Pass Test of Time? – WSJ.com: Saw this about US Airways (LCC), an airline I used to fly a lot when I lived and it was just America West. The airline has struggled through its merger —…
Boeing Scrambles to Repair Problems With New Plane – WSJ.com Interesting article in today’s WSJ about the ongoing problems in bringing the new 787 “Dreamliner” to market. Sounds like a nightmare of a process. Look at the waste highlighted in…
The Middle Seat – WSJ.com Quick story here, not so much about Lean but about customer service and general incompetence. The WSJ shares data about how complaints about the Transportation Security Administration have jumped: “Complaints to the TSA about security…
NWA puts an emphasis on service I saw this article in the Detroit paper when connecting on a Northwest Airlines flight today. My flight crews were both professional — in spite of the way management has treated them over the…
Postbulletin.com: Harvey Mackay: Work for the love of it all – Mon, Oct 15, 2007 For all of the complaining we do about the airlines and for all of the lousy attitudes we often run across, here’s a positive story…
Lean bloggers tend to be hard on the commercial airline industry. It’s not unjustified considering how they’ve treated their own employees and their customers in recent years, and the lack of profitability that goes with that poor treatment. I suspect…
TSA considers reservations for airport security – USATODAY.com I’m not normally a fan of the TSA, but this proposal actually seems somewhat reasonable and reminds me of the Lean concept of “heijunka,” or level loading of a process. A steady…